Posts Tagged ‘local redevelopment authority’

Environmental issues at the former Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove, including the recent discovery of perfluorinated chemicals in the groundwater on and around the installation, are forcing the Navy to push back the property’s transfer to the Horsham LRA until late 2015 or early 2016. The Navy had been planning to turn over about 600 acres at the 862-acre site located north of Philadelphia at the end of 2014, Gregory Preston, director of the Navy’s BRAC Program Management Office East, told the LRA last week. The groundwater contamination had not been anticipated, Preston said. “It’s an unfortunate outcome …

The Navy has issued a draft environmental impact statement for the reuse of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station in northern California, bringing the city of Concord one step closer to gaining ownership of the 5,000-acre property. The study evaluates the Concord Reuse Project Area Plan, which the city adopted in 2012, as well as an alternative that allows for higher intensity residential development. The city’s plan calls for building up to 12,272 housing units and 6.1 million square feet of commercial space on about 2,300 acres near the North Concord/Martinez BART station, with about 70 percent of the site preserved as parkland or open space …

The Army and the LRA for the former Fort Gillem hosted a public forum last week to address residents’ questions about test results from the summer that revealed toxic vapor in dozens of homes. The Army has conducted vapor intrusion tests in 68 homes and one daycare center surrounding the installation located outside of Atlanta. The vapors are believed to stem from groundwater contamination that seeped off the post. The Army plans to install ventilation systems in the daycare. In the other homes, scientists still need to determine whether levels of contamination are high enough to justify installing ventilation systems and whether the Army should be responsible for the work, said Tom Lederle, chief of the Army’s BRAC office …

The Navy’s cleanup contractor at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco admitted earlier this year to submitting false samples in an apparent effort to show that the soil was not radioactive, reports NBC Bay Area News. After the Navy determined in October 2012 that soil sample results were inconsistent with previous tests conducted at the same location, an investigation by Tetra Tech revealed that the samples actually came from different locations than the ones indicated. In reality, the samples were collected from areas that had already tested clean for radiological contamination …

Fifty-one years after local officials and business leaders in Greenville, S.C., made a bold decision to purchase the shuttered Donaldson Air Force Base from the government and convert it into an industrial park focusing on aviation, the South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center is a key component of the region’s economy, Jody Bryson, the center’s president and CEO, writes in a commentary in the Greenville Online. The center is home to 99 companies, including technology, military, educational and advanced manufacturing firms. The center, which has an annual economic impact of $2 billion, hosts Donaldson Field, the largest general aviation airport in the state …

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit from an Atlanta entertainment company seeking to block the sale of 330 acres at the former Fort McPherson to filmmaker Tyler Perry, ruling it was too early for the court to hear the case. Ubiquitous Entertainment Studios claimed it had met with the McPherson Implementing Local Redevelopment Authority about purchasing 80 acres for a movie studio entertainment complex in 2011 — before the city of Atlanta entered discussions with Perry — but was told officials couldn’t negotiate until the Army transferred the property. The suit, filed in July, accuses the authority of violating its bylaws when it offered the property to Perry outside of a public competition …

The city of Concord, Calif., is planning to hold a public meeting in January for the City Council and residents to learn about the reuse plans proposed by the four candidates vying to become the master developer for the former Concord Naval Weapons Station. The proposals are due in late November. All four teams — Catellus Development Corp., FivePoint Communities/Lennar, J.F. Shea Co. and SunCal — have significant experience in base redevelopment, reported the Contra Costa Times. The Concord Reuse Project Area Plan calls for a mix of residential, office and commercial uses on about 2,300 acres near the North Concord BART station, while preserving 69 percent of the site for open space and recreational use. Separately, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority and Mercedes-Benz last week announced a partnership to test self-driving vehicles and new transportation technology on the nearly 20 miles of paved roadways on the base, according to the story.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a series of bills last week designed to help municipalities promote economic development, including one allowing cities and counties to form an infrastructure financing district to finance projects at former military bases. The bills were needed to help municipalities continue to finance transit facilities, water systems and other infrastructure via tax-increment financing after the state dissolved its redevelopment agencies in 2011. Infrastructure financing districts are a similar tool to the redevelopment agencies previously used; however, they require a public vote before bonds can be issued. Brown dissolved redevelopment agencies to close the state’s budget deficit and preserve funding for local services …

The Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority began a series of auctions last week to sell furniture, machinery and other equipment inside or attached to buildings slated to be demolished at the former installation located close to the New Jersey coast. The authority hired an auctioneer to a two-year contract, with a one-year extension, as the Army continues to turn over facilities to the LRA. The money collected, minus the portion going to the auction company, will be reinvested in the redevelopment, reported NJ.com. “As the state takes title to different areas of redevelopment, if there are any items to be sold, we’ll sell them …

The Air Force has agreed to pay the city of Portsmouth, N.H., $154,000 for the initial costs of finding a new water supply due to the contamination of a city well at Pease International Tradeport, the former Pease Air Force Base. The agreement follows the discovery in May of elevated levels of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), which the EPA classifies as a “contaminant of emerging concern,” reports Seacoastonline.com. “This is our number one priority at Pease,” Peter Forbes, the Air Force’s environmental coordinator for the former base, said of the investigation and tests officials have conducted since the contaminant’s discovery. Stephen TerMaath, BRAC division chief, said the Air Force has been working closely with the EPA and the state Department of Environmental Services “to develop a long-term plan for addressing PFCs at Pease.”